Leading the Leaders by Ichak kalderson Adizes Book Summary by D Shavikumar

1. Leading the Leaders
Ichak kalderson Adizes

2. Dr Adizes is one of the leading
management experts in the world.
He taught at UCLA, Stanford and
Columbia Universities. He is a
consultant to prime ministers and
Fortune 100 companies.

3. The purpose of management is to
see to it that the organization is
effective and efficient in the short
and long run.

4. Peter Drucker said “ the top
management job in any company
requires at least four different
kinds of people-the thought man,
the action man, the people man,
and the front man.” rarely do you
find someone who is a good mix
of all four.

5. While we have managers, we also
have mismanagers. Mismanagers
lack the ability to perform certain
types of roles.

6. One of the mismanagers in a
company is the lone ranger – who
ends up doing something even if it
not the correct thing.

7. Another mismanager is the
bureaucrat- who drives excessive
rules and has no concern for
business success.

8. If an organization has too many
bureaucrats, then it has no chance
of any success.

9. Good leaders learn to say NO.
Saying yes all the time can kill
leaders.

10. Another mismanager is the field
rat – so busy doing things that he
cannot look up and see the bigger
picture. Take time to think.

11. All the mismanagers abuse time,
but do it differently. So, managing
time is key to be a good leader.

12. Focus on who is speaking and why
he is saying what he is saying,
rather than focus on what is being
said.

13. Sometimes it takes time to get
quality, slow down if you want
quality in a meeting or a situation.

14. Telling people what to do does not
mean you have a team. You must
get people to think for
themselves.

15. A good manager creates an
atmosphere where the most
desirable thing will possible
happen.

16. Meetings are essential and a good
way to get alignment. If you don’t
have regular meetings, people will
have corridor meetings and the
outcome can be disastrous.

17. Never hire people and promote
them despite their bad personality
and tantrums. Good leaders call
bad behavior

18. Not everyone who works hard is
doing the right thing by the
company.

19. The fact that you don’t know
about something doesn’t mean
that it wont happen.

20. Not everything that is broken
needs to be fixed. Prioritize the
list.

21. When there is a choice, do the
right things first, instead of just
doing something.

22. To have a team, you must let
people disagree with each and
other and with you.

23. Set firm, absolute deadlines your
yourself and others.

24. Clarity is achieved through
attention to detail.

25. Ask yourself-what are you really
committed to, what’s driving you?

26. Do not present a problem unless
your goal is to arrive at a solution.
People who present problems
without providing answers are
poor team players.

27. Being the only one to talk in a
meeting doesn’t mean the others
will listen.

28. When you disagree, don’t be
disagreeable.

29. Stop worrying about what people
will say. They will say something
no matter what you do.

30. Going with the flow does not
make you a leader. Good leaders
stand up when they see things are
wrong.

31. Because change is constant, the
focus of an organization has to be
to handle change. Poor managers
and leaders keep postponing
taking action thinking it is a
decision. It is a decision doomed
to fail.

32. When you don’t take action, you
will be seen as incompetent.

33. Agreeing is not enough. It is better
to have a mediocre decision
implemented than an outstanding
decision never implemented.

34. The fact that people agree does
not mean they will implement it.
You have to drive that as a leader.

35. A managers job is not to be
popular, he has to be effective.

36. Not all those who say they
support you, actually do.

37. There is no change without
conflict, if you stop conflict, you
stop change.